The 8th annual Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire will be Saturday, June 4 at the Ann Arbor District Library’s Downtown Branch!

The AADL has organized and hosted a lot of makery things in the past few years including exhibiting at the A2 Mini Maker Faire year after year. Plus, if you haven’t heard yet because you are too busy practicing the theremin you checked out from their instrument collection, they ALSO have a makerspace, the Secret Lab!

Exhibitor applications and additional info will be out in the early Spring. So check back for updates.

And as always, the faire will be free for attendees and exhibitors. A huge thank you to our sponsors for making it accessible to everyone.

The buzz of energy at the Morris Lawrence Building at WCC on Saturday was palpable. With record attendance (1600+), 46 exhibitors including businesses, schools, entrepreneurs, hobbyists, nonprofits, and artists, 3 food trucks, and raffle prizes given out throughout the day, this year’s 7th annual faire was truly outstanding.

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations: It keeps the faire free for exhibitors and free for attendees. A2Geeks, Make Media, the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum, Maker Works, Brain Monkeys, ShopBot Tools, Ann Arbor State Bank, Game Start, Robo Todd Industries and Sight Machine. And a special thank you to the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum for hosting our Exhibitor Pre-Party.

Thank you to our amazing exhibitors who provided the crowds of people with demos, projects, conversation and information. Thank you for staying up late finishing your displays and then getting up early to set them up, for driving in from all areas of southeast Michigan and the Toledo area, and for your hours of enthusiasm and energy in interacting with attendees. It was an exhausting day and you did great!

And finally thank you for attending. As volunteer organizers, we strive to bring new aspects to the faire year after year. The days leading up are always a little tense, with hope that on the day-of people will show up. And this year, you certainly did: Tons of families and people of all ages, which is a testament to the curiosity and support found in our region.

So thank you for being part of the 7th annual Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire!

This week is always a rush to the end, getting tickets and signage printed, tables cloths and snacks for our exhibitors purchased, and … uh-oh, what else are we forgetting!!?? Yet it always seems to come together by Saturday.

Thank you to the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum for hosting our Exhibitor Pre-Party tonight! Director Mel Drumm is a huge supporter of the faire year after year. John Bowditch and Ari Morris and their outreach/education teams put so much enthusiasm and effort in creating engaging demos utilizing both new and old technologies.

When you are at the faire, make sure to look down at the ground (or in front of you!) as you walk around. There will be a few robots moving through the crowds: Brad Jensen and his Super Cheat Robot Platform, Rocks and Robots’ Flying robots, and Lauro Ojeda’s Lego Drawing Robot.

Makers in the Arts bring another dimension to this year’s faire: We don’t want to forget about the ‘A’ in STEM= STEAM. EMU’s Digital Fabrication professors and students will have some 3D printers, arduinos doing crazy things and more featuring open source software and hardware. Fly Art Center is also joining us for the first time in a hands-on water-based project. And the Niji-Iro Japanese Immersion Elementary School is going to teach us a few traditional Japanese crafts such as fish-printing and origami.

Looking down through the list of this year’s Makers has us organizers really excited! From 3D printers, to FIRST Robotics teams, to skill sharing, to the A2Hands on Museum’s various demos and projects, you are sure to find something that captivates you, teaches you something or impresses you with the amount of knowledge that is being nourished and shared in our region. This includes our youth makers as well! Here is a sneak preview—-

A2 STEAM’s 6th grade percussion group set to task on rebuilding a set of orchestra bells that were in horrible disrepair. They will be on hand to show us just how they tackled this project.

e-NABLE is an extensive network of makers with 3D printers who build and then assemble devices for those born without fingers. They will be here printing parts and you can learn how to assemble some of the devices yourself!

Coming in from Toledo is the University of Toledo’s Maker Society. They are a student organization aimed at providing tools, from 3D printers to hand tools to CNC machines, for all students to use no matter what discipline they may be studying.

Another great addition to this year’s faire is Ann Arbor’s favorite creative space for kids (and adults!): the SCRAP BOX! They will have some of the amazing and sometimes strange recycled materials they tend to have in stock.

At this year’s faire, the lunch options have expanded. THANK YOU to Sweetwaters Cafe, Ray’s Red Hots and El Manatial for joining us!

Sweetwaters Cafe is one of Ann Arbor’s favorite coffeeshops. Serving specialty coffees and teas (including their own amazing Ginger Lemon Tea now sold at various markets), they also have sweet and savory desserts and sandwiches. And they recently expanded to Ypsilanti!

Ray’s Red Hots has both a storefront on E. University in Ann Arbor and two carts that are staples at U of M football games, school events, parties and more. They serve up gourmet hotdogs, sausages and burgers including vegetarian options. They love what they do!

El Manatial is one of the best food trucks located at Mark’s Carts in Ann Arbor. Owner and chef Mariano Rodriguez serves authentic Mexican recipes inspired by his family’s restaurant in Mexico, which has been in business for over 35 years. We welcome the opening of their 2nd food truck at the 2015 faire!

We hope that you will stay for lunch and sample the amazing food offered at this year’s faire!

*Youth makers from elementary school age on up to high school, including home and public school groups.

New to this year’s faire is a separate ‘DEMO’ area featuring 1-time only demonstrations that are 10-minutes or less. Demonstrations that KAPOW! BANG! THROW SPARKS or CONFETTI! WHISTLE! Or just make sense that the demo would only happen 1-time during the faire. You do not need to have an exhibitor booth in order to participate in the DEMO section. But you still must fill out the Call for Makers form so that we can coordinate everyone. If you decide to do both an exhibitor booth and something in the DEMO section, your 1-time only demonstration should be different than what you display in your exhibitor booth.

Apply soon!!!

Just click on the “Makers” tab at the top of this page, or go to the Makers page for more information.

The Faire will be held again at the Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of Washtenaw Community College. This free, all-ages event features community members of all types who come together to display their ideas, projects, and inventions.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

This year we’ve partnered with Brain Monkeys to focus especially on young makers across our schools and learning settings.

Soon we will be seeking applications from people and groups with engaging, inspiring, and just plain cool projects.

We’re seeking projects that focus on the process of creating, designing, and making – not just displaying a final product. Makers of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to submit applications. We will begin seeking applications for makers very soon.

We had some great exhibitors this year. You’ll likely always recognize some friendly faces in the A2MMF maker crowd but we also always get new folks. This year we featured a lot of the area’s FIRST teams and had a whole corner of the faire dedicated to robots and robotics.

First, a huge thanks to all these folks: those who return each year and those who are new to the Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire. You make our faire the success that it is each year.